


Wave on the Echo.

by thirtypercentdone



Category: Carry On Series - Rainbow Rowell
Genre: F/F, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2018-07-29
Packaged: 2019-06-17 23:41:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,676
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15472680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thirtypercentdone/pseuds/thirtypercentdone
Summary: Okay, Penelope is the gay disaster this time.Penelope and Agatha have an encounter that leaves both of them confused. but after Simon and Baz announce some news of their own and Penelope does a little soul searching, things turn out a bit better than okay.





	Wave on the Echo.

Penelope Bunce is the smartest witch at Watford. She has perfect grades and spends more time than is strictly necessary for the library. 

 

But contrary to what everyone says, she is not a robot. She can feel just as much as the next girl. She feels fear when Simon is sent on an extended quest and the mage won’t confirm whether he’s dead or alive. She feels sympathy when Baz sits across from her in charms class on that same quest and she sees the fear in his eyes. 

 

She feels it when Agatha kisses her cheek after a, particularly late study session, their eyes heavy with sleep. What ‘it’ is, she’s not exactly sure. But it makes her heart warm and blood rush to her face. 

 

_ Agatha has this effect on everyone,  _ she tells herself one night, panicked that her feelings are abnormal. But if the blonde girl gets this very same reaction from everyone she meets, then how come every time she enters a room, Penelope feels her heart swell in a very unique sense of longing.

 

Of course, it doesn’t have to mean anything. The bile that rises in her throat whenever Dev tries to flirt with Agatha in the great hall, or the way she stares at her lips sometimes when the latter isn’t looking, imagining if they taste as sweet as they look.

 

It doesn’t mean anything, until one night, where it really, really, does.

 

Simon is away, which isn’t unusual, and Penelope is worried sick. Which again, pretty average. But something is different when Agatha lays a hand on her back to comfort her. Something is just a little bit off when she whispers that everything will be alright, and Penelope can feel her touch like a thousand volts straight to the heart.

 

That something leads to the two girls kissing, sighing lightly into each other's mouths and confessing their deepest secrets without using words. They kiss softly and feverishly, but with enough emotion to make Penelope dizzy. Her knees weaken and they fall back onto the bed, Agatha playing her knees on either side of Penelope’s hips as she presses closer than the brunette thought was possible.

 

Eventually, they stop. And reality clicks into place. They are more than just two girls in a dorm late at night, they are witches. With obligations, and families, and rules. A very clear and concise set of rules that leaves no room for argument. And definitely not for love.

 

So when Agatha says, “Uh, I should go.”, Penelope doesn't stop her.

 

The rest of that weekend is spent inside, with the curtains drawn shut. Penelope allows herself to run a finger over her mouth where Agatha’s lips were. She allows herself one moment of self-indulgence to wonder what would have happened if she had said: “Stay.”

But time trudges forward because time is a total dick. And Penelope does too, telling Trixie and Keris that maybe they should make out in someone else's room, and avoid a pair of warm brown eyes, and golden hair that almost shimmers in the setting summer sun.

  
And like he always does, Simon returns. Penelope is the first to give him a bone-crushing hug that has him gasping for air. Agatha hugs him next and grimaces when the embrace lasts a second too long, pulling away quickly so as not to give him false hope about getting back together.

 

The next thing that happens is admittedly the most surprising as Baz expresses some emotion other than bored or ‘plotting’ (Simon’s words, not hers) but something that looks a whole lot like pain, or maybe longing. He launches into a speech with words spilling from his mouth worriedly, a way Penelope had never heard him speak. Scanning his eyes up and down Simon for injuries. 

 

“Snow, where the hell have you been? Obviously, I have no concern for your wellbeing, but the middle of the school year seems like a terrible time to uproot a student from his day to day life-”, Baz rambles on. And the smile on Simon’s face grows the more his roommate speaks.

 

“I wouldn’t say I’m  _ glad  _ you’re back, but-”, Simon cuts off Baz by placing a chaste kiss on his lips. Causing Penelope to gasp and Agatha’s eyes to widen.

 

But Baz just melts into it like this is his every day, Simon pulls away with an easy grin. “Did you miss me?”

 

The other boy scoffs, “You wish”

 

As the pair stroll off to their room bickering, Penelope and Agatha make brief eye contact, both thinking the same thing.

 

_ If they can bend the rules for love, what’s to stop us? _

 

Nothing is done right then and there, they walk to their separate dorms and don’t speak. But something in the air between them changes, sparking with new electricity and promise. Causing Penelope to shiver when their thighs brush under the table later that night.

 

Penelope comes to a decision after learning that Baz and Simon have been dating in secret for six months. She will tell Agatha how she feels….soon when she can fully articulate her feelings. Until then, she will settle for being friends again.

  
  


Now, to actually fix their friendship in a not awkward way. 

 

It doesn’t go exactly according to Penelope’s twenty seven-step plan, but soon they are sitting together during every meal and laughing until they cry at jokes other people wouldn’t get. It’s been months since the kiss, and everything is back to normal.

 

Well, kind of normal. Her gaze tends to linger a bit longer on Agatha’s face than it did before the kiss, and Simon shoots her looks that she can’t quite say are unwarranted.

 

Things are back to normal except this time normal means ‘In love with Agatha’.

 

And to Penelope’s horror, it doesn’t feel too much different than it did before she went and changed everything. She tries her best not to distance herself, she really does. But Agatha knows that something’s up. And Penelope knows she will have to tell her what it is.

 

Up until Simon and Baz came out, Agatha and Baz had a rocky and frankly confusing dynamic. But since the announcement, the two have become quite close as friends, smiling at each other across the dinner table and whispering between classes. It would have made her insanely jealous if she didn’t know that Baz was  _ super, extra  _ gay.

 

Penelope finally decides that if she can’t tell Agatha how she feels, she has to tell someone else. And who else but her best friend to be the one she confides in?

 

“Penny, I know.”, Simon laughs. Penelope is not amused.

 

“What do you mean ‘you know’? It has taken me months to come to terms with it myself.”, The girl fumes. Simon places a hand on her shoulder.

 

“Okay, chill out. I knew because I’m your best friend I see the way you look at her.”

 

“Is it that obvious to everyone then?”, Penelope sulks.

 

“Pen, no. You are the smartest person I know, and being in love hasn’t made you less cautious. But I sit across from you two every day, Baz and I were bound to notice eventually.”

 

“Baz knows?!”

 

“Okay, I definitely could have phrased that better. But you should tell her how you feel, even if it doesn’t work out. Look at what it got me”, Simon smiles a little and Penelope feels a surge of happiness for her friend.

 

“What? A brooding vampire?”

 

“Yes. And, the opportunity to fall in love”, Simon concludes. 

Penelope suddenly knows exactly what she has to do.

 

“Bye Simon! Bye Baz who was listening from the bathroom!” 

 

She sprints down the stairs of Mummers house and to the cloisters and knocks on Agatha’s door three times. No one answers. Great. 

 

She knocks again. No response.

 

She leans against the door and waits, Agatha must be in the great hall, or the library. Penelope will wait for her here, she shouldn’t be too long anyway. 

 

Now she has time to rehearse what to say, to imagine her friend’s reaction when she finally confesses, will her declaration be met with disgust, or maybe something sweeter. Maybe her feelings are mutual. But Penelope dashes her hopes, best not to have high expectations and be disappointed. No, now she just wants to confess how she feels.

 

She slides down the door into a sitting position, her knees tucked under her chin, and waits.

 

And waits.

 

And waits.

 

She falls asleep against the door and is woken up by Agatha nudging her shoulder, “Hey Penny. What are you doing here?”

 

Penelope struggles for a few moments before getting up, “Something I should have done a long time ago” She says, and then proceeds to do nothing.

 

Agatha raises an eyebrow. 

 

Penelope starts laughing a little helplessly, her tired brain supplying words for her, “Merlin that was bad, I couldn’t confess to you after saying that. Are you crazy?”

 

The other girl smiles at Penelope’s antics, and guides her into the room, sitting her friend down on her former roommate's bed.

 

“Confess what?”

 

Penelope buries her face in her hands before facing Agatha head on, looking straight into the blonde girl’s chocolate brown eyes, “I am so in love with you. And I am so, so tired. That kiss meant something to me and every time I’m around you I can only think about your lips on mine and the thousands of ways I could have made you stay.”

 

Agatha blinks. And then a blindingly bright smile splits her face and she grabs Penelope by the back of the neck and presses her mouth against her gently. It is a question, and boy does Penelope want to answer.

 

They spend the night kissing lazily and giggling over how stupid they had been to have not realized their feelings sooner. And how happy they were that they had realized them now. 

 

Penelope Bunce might have been the smartest witch at Watford. But now, lying here with Agatha, she is finally the happiest. 

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Author's Note:**

> I love writing Penelope and Agatha so much. I want to do a chaptered story to develop their characters more, thoughts?


End file.
